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Tuesday, May 30, 2017
5 WILD HORSE MYTHS: Alt-Facts Lead to Deadly New Budget for Mustangs
Budget 2018 calls for killing all wild horses and burros in Bureau of Land Management holding pens. That's about 44,000 equines according to BLM and roundups continue. BLM records show more mustangs "gathered" in the first three months of 2017 than were captured in all of 2016. Few voters want wild horses killed, but they’re bombarded by myths which infer there's no choice. Labels: animals, BLM, books, education, government, livestock, mustangs, Nevada, phantom stallion, politics, rodeo, rural, terri farley, West, Wild at Heart, wild horses, writing Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:15 PM 0 comments  
Saturday, September 10, 2016 Wild Horse Science vs Feral Horse $cience in the American West
If you're interested in decisions being made with your money for your wild horses, Elko, isn't a convenient venue. Not to worry, says BLM. Meetings are (sorta) streamed online and the Wild Horse Advisory board includes folks to speak for all "...from advocacy groups, wild horse and burro research institutions, veterinarians, natural resource organizations, humane advocacy groups, wildlife associations, and livestock organizations." I'd assume by his email address that "cowdoc75" represents veterinary or livestock interests, but no. He's the Natural Resources expert. This board is clearly skewed toward cash cows and what they can do for ranchers, not what they can do to the environment. For that, they blame wild horses. The vote to kill mustangs was 7-1. Ginger Kathrens, Humane representative, was the lone vote for life. These horses belong to all Americans and this vote doesn't represent them. My letter to the Board and BLM follows. Please use the email addresses to convey your opinions.
TO: drfred@gmail.com,
cowdoc75@infowest.com
, mustangs@infowest.com
, jweileldvm@yahoo.com,
suemcd@vet.upenn.edu,
Jen.sall@gmail.com , benmasters88@gmail.com
, Steven.leslieyardley@yahoo.com
CC: dbolstad@blm.gov, nkornze@blm.gov, whbadvisoryboard@blm.gov
Advisory Board Members:
BLM was once so valuable
to me as a writer that I included staffers in dedications to my PHANTOM
STALLION book series. I even named a main character after BLM's Bryan Fuell of
Elko because he was so helpful.
BLM employees used to meet advocates at Bruno's for coffee before round-ups. We often disagreed, but we asked and answered questions and listened to each other. Now, advocates are met in the same Gerlach parking lot by armed rangers. And, when I asked questions for my non-fiction book on wild horses, BLM stonewalled for over 13 months, until my publisher finally sent the book to press without updated comments from the Interior Department. After 20 years of observing BLM, I thought I was beyond shock over wild horse mismanagement.
I was wrong. The
advisory board's choice of wild horse slaughter, based on willful ignorance of
science and finances, sucker-punched me.
BLM has wasted millions of dollars on rounding up and warehousing wild horses despite the availability of cheap on-range solutions to man-made problems. In fact, the Humane Society of the United States' analysis of BLM's budget documents indicated that the more money Congress appropriated to BLM's "reform," the more expensive the wild horse programs became. Only one thing changes from year to year: money going to independent contractors. BLM’s job is to protect and manage wild horses and the range, but BLM's Don Glen and Dean Bolstad made it clear at 2009 Wild Horse Advisory Board meetings that another priority was "keeping our contractors happy." And have they ever, with ever-increasing amounts of tax dollars. As an author for young readers, I know many students use the Interior Department's websites to search for factual information. The dissemination of '70s era science skewed toward merchandisers of Western resources amounts to malpractice of the sleaziest kind -- lying to kids for political gain. Board members, I urge you to retract this emotional response to BLM's cry for more money for further mismanagement. Instead, listen to non-vested scientists who've proven the environment's been turned upside down by man's replacement of native species (including equines; check the fossil record) with livestock. Listen to those with no financial stake in destroying the range. Years from now, will you have helped save the last wild places? Or will every book and Google search list you as an accomplice to the death of West?
Sincerely,
Terri Farley Labels: BLM, BLM adoption, BLM Advisory Board, BLM round ups, Bruno's, cattle, contractors, Dean Bolstad, Elko, Gerlach, Ginger Kathrens, long-term holding, mustangs, Neil Kornze, Nevada, slaughter, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:47 PM 1 comments
Monday, March 14, 2016 Wild Horse Annie : She Fought for Wild Horse & Children
In ranching jeans or white gloves and home sewn suits, Velma Johnston fought to save the West's wild horses and inspired American kids to do the same
“Crest Donner Pass, pass foothill towns and swoop downhill toward the neon-edged casinos of Reno. Just before the Virginia Street exit a white cross rises skyward on your right. It marks Hilltop Cemetery, but you can't just turn right and get there. You won't happen upon the grave of Velma Johnston, the woman who preferred the at-first derogatory nickname Wild Horse Annie, either. Call for directions, pick up a map at the office and you'll still spend time walking head down into the wind before you kick aside leaves and find her. There's nothing peaceful about the horses sculpted on Annie's gravestone, nothing to hint she held off wild horses' extinction for decades because she knew where to turn for help. "I can almost see the star and stripes waving in their eyeballs when I tell them that these horses belong to all the people of America..." Wild Horse Annie knew in the 1960's and '70's that America's young people's hearts beat in time with those of wild horses. They still do.”
by Terri Farley 2015
Labels: Melissa Farlow, mustangs, Nevada, terri farley, Velma Johnston, Wild at Heart, wild horse Annie, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:39 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 05, 2016 Update on Wild Horses Shipped from Palomino Valley 
Dear Readers,
My concern over empty corrals at Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Preparation Facility led me to request more details about our mustangs and their after-capture movements All of the information I've put in italics are taken directly from BLM sources.
"As of December 31, 2015, the number of animals at PVC are as follows: 1,129 horses and 12 burros, "
I also asked for the WHO, WHEN, WHERE and WHY of wild horse shipping.
Although the WHY is still forthcoming, but these shipping records cover the period I asked for, from November 1 - January 1. They were secured for me by BLM Public Affairs Specialist Jason Lutterman.
WHO are these horses? Their coat colors are sorrel and roan, both strawberry and blue, gray and bay, black, brown, pinto and dun.
They're as old as 15 years and as young as one. Some were born on the range, but many are facility born. Some have strikes listed on their final shipping orders.
Strikes tell how many
times a wild horse has been offered for adoption but failed to find a home.
Three strikes aren't good.
The 3-year old bay with 4 strikes, 2-year old sorrel with 5, and three yearlings with 3 or 4 each are not protected by the BLM oversight afforded adoptees. Three strikes mustangs and horses of certain ages may be be sold outright. To whom? For what? If they're fortunate, they might be sold to someone with good intentions.
WILD HORSE HOW-TO: Have questions about mustangs or burros in facilities other than Palomino Valley? Contact that facility directly. If the facility cannot pull the information for you, ask who can and you should be given a name and phone number/email address for someone who can.Labels: adoption, BLM, Bruneau, burros, Calico, Carson City, Elk Creek, Idaho, mustangs, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Palomino Valley, Paul's Valley, Sale Authority horses, Three Strikes, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 6:18 PM 3 comments
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